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Implementation of new influenza recommendations a challenge
ATLANTA – Following the recent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendation that all children aged 6 months to 18 years receive annual influenza vaccination, providers and state health departments alike are now faced with the challenges of implementation.
Anthony Fiore, MD, MPH, presented a review of the newest ACIP recommendations and a look into the future for childhood influenza vaccination at the 42nd National Immunization Conference held here.
“As of this past influenza season, 73% of the U.S. population has a recommendation for getting vaccinated,” said Fiore, of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases influenza division. However, “we’ve reached a plateau in vaccine coverage, including among young children.”
For example, registry data from the past three years have shown that two-dose coverage among children aged between 6 and 23 months has not reached higher than 20%.
During a featured session on vaccinating school-aged children against influenza, Fiore was joined by Kristen Ehresmann, RN, MPH, and Pedro Piedra, MD, who presented their experiences with the implementation of school and community-based influenza clinics.
Challenges ahead
The task of vaccinating 58 million school-aged children for influenza each year will be a challenge, and preparatory steps will need to be taken, according to Fiore.
“We’ll need to develop ways to evaluate the impact of doing this, which is going to require large population-based surveillance platforms,” he said.
Ehresmann, immunizations manager for the Minnesota Department of Health, said the new recommendation will challenge state and local providers, who previously focused much of their attention on childhood immunization and well-child care.
Furthermore, local health departments will now need to focus on and collaborate with nontraditional vendors to form cooperative relationships.
In Minnesota, two pilot programs were conducted to determine the feasibility of school-located vaccination clinics.
One of the programs resulted in 33% to 59% of eligible students receiving influenza vaccination, with the highest rates in the elementary school-aged children.
Piedra, an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, and colleagues have most recently noted between 4% and 18% of all medically attended influenza-related illnesses were averted following sustained vaccination coverage levels in children of around 30%. – by Cara Dickinson
For more information:
- Fiore A. Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices: past, present and future.
- Ehresmann K. Perspective from immunization managers.
- Piedra PA. Developing and sustaining community and school-based immunization programs for school-aged children.
- All presented at: the 42nd National Immunization Conference; March 17-20, 2008; Atlanta.